Mahindra Finance Forays Into Co-Lending With State Bank Of India

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd. has entered the co-lending space through its partnership with the State Bank of India.

Launched on a pan-India level, the idea behind the partnership is to focus on priority sector lending, according to an exchange filing on Wednesday.

The interest rates offered would depend on the customer's credit profile. Mahindra Finance would serve as the point of contact for these customers, as it would also manage loan servicing, according to the co-lending agreement.

The MSME sector will continue to be a key focus area. Mahindra Finance, as a non-bank financial company, primarily serves the rural and semi-urban markets.

The partnership also comes at a time when the company's subsidiary, Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Ltd., is moving away from deep rural financing to more affordable financing.

In the second quarter, Mahindra Finance's net profit reported a sharp decline of 47.5% to Rs 235.2 crore.

Shares of Mahindra Finance were trading 1.04% higher at Rs 247.90 apiece, while the SBI stock was trading 0.38% up at Rs 567.70 apiece, as compared with a 0.22% decline in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 as of 12.45 p.m.